Production Art: Decades (Patreon)

For a shot in the latest video I needed to visualize the idea of fun things from decades past, that the world is currently nostalgic for. It was going to be a collage of images, but I quickly realized that anything I choose would be purely subjective. So instead I opted for labels of decades themselves, stylized in the design language of their time. To have flexibility I made them in 3D. Here's a video of each one up-close.

It's interesting how what we think of as emblematic design of a time period is usually concocted much later, looking back at it. If you google graphics strictly made IN the '80, you won't see much glowing purple wireframe synthwave album cover stuff. The '60s weren't all groovy Austin Powers flower blobs...

But still, if you want this sort of concept to read on screen, you have to lean into the corniness somewhat. I tried to split the difference between the stereotypical design tropes and my own first-hand impression/experience of the times. The '90s logo, for instance, is a barely exaggerated version of my actual high school's official print materials!